Improvement in tobacco-packages



T. E. ALLEN. Tobacco Package.

No. 200,239. Patented Feb. 12,1878.

,FETERS FHOTO-LITHOGRAPHER. WASHINGTON, D .07

UN TE STATESPATENT QFFICE.

THEODORE E. ALL N, OE' EW YORK, YQI

\IMPROVEMENT IN o Acco-P o-K oEa' y V Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 200,239, dated February 1873 {application filed l January 10, 1878, i i

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, THEODORE E. ALLEN, of the city, county, and State of New York, have invented an Improvement in Tobacco-Packages, of which the following is a specification:

This invention consists in a new article of manufacture, viz., unwrapped p1ug-tobaccoincased or packed in a metal box, thus forming a new article of commerce and manufacture, whereby the tobacco may be readily prepared for sale in measured quantities, suitable for the individual consumer, each package of which, being in itself protected, will be preserved in all climates and atmospheres, and may be transported and used without deterioration.

Heretofore, in preparing tobacco in the natural or leaf form for the market, it has been customary to form the same into plugs by presslng a quantity of leaves, after the same are cured and otherwise treatedifor use, into shapes of convenient size.

Tobacco thus prepared, necessarily moist in ts merchantable condition, or that in which it is prepared for chewing, rapidly deteriorates when exposed, even for a short time, to the action of the atmospheric air, (especially in dry ch'mates,) thus not only losing its flavor, but becoming hard, brittle, dead, unsalable, and comparatively valueless; and, in consequence of these evils to which it is exposed, it has been common to envelop tobacco designed to form plugs in a wrapper consisting of one or more large tobacco-leaves, which must necessarily be free from breaks, air-holes, stems, or other injurious or disfiguring elements. This wrapper is made to fit the filler, or plug proper, tightly, and though it presents a smooth surface, protects the plug to aconsiderable extent, and constitutes a desirable commercial package, it also entails a comparatively large exafter plug is stripped for sale, is exposed, to

vent this destruction of plug chewing-tobacco,

at the same time adapting it to be placed on the market so incased, enveloped, or packed, that its quality is preserved, its portable condition is improved, and its retail value not enhanced.

In preparing the package constituting my invention, the cured and otherwise treated tobacco, while in its properly-prepared merchantable condition, or ready for consumption, is pressed into large cakes, which are cut up into shapes or plugs of a size and shape adapted to fit into a box, such, for example, as the one illustrated in the accompanying drawing, where A marks the body of the box, and 13 its cover, while 0 marks a plug of tobacco snugly fitted into said box, and which may be enveloped or covered by adjusting the cover B in place, as in Fig. 1.

This box and its cover are preferably constructed from tin or other sheet metal. The shape of the box may be any that fancy or convenience dictates and any other construction of it than that shown may be adopted so long as Tthe box is adapted to envelop and protect the tobacco -plu g and afford ready access thereto, the plug of tobacco being altered in its shape to suit the form and construction of the box.

Though not the better mode of preparation, it is apparent that each box may have the tobacco-plug which it is to hold and protect pressed directly into it; but the mode first described is practically the best, since by it the plug may be conveniently and cheaply formed to fit snugly into the box.

Plugs of tobacco thus prepared for the market, while they are without the expensive wrapper of tobacco-leaf, and thus consist wholly of the filler, or that part of the plug of commerce which is prepared for consumption, are practically enveloped and protected from contact with the atmospheric air, the well-known action of which is to evaporate the moisture contained in the plug, and thus render it unfit for sale or use.

This invention, moreover, presents the plug in a desirable form, portable, and convenient for use and sale, each plug comprising apack-v age entirely distinct and separate from another, which packages may be packed indiscriminately, each package affording in itself a vehicle which holds a plug of tobacco from the time of its manufacture until it is eonsumed, and which package preserves the tobacco constituting said plug in its ripe or perfeet condition until it is entirely consumed, when the box, which affords the purchaser of each plug a convenient means for carrying the same in his pocket the primary cost of which being less than the tobacco-leafwrapper, may be thrown away.

In addition to the useful results already enumerated which are accomplished by my invention, it is apparent that this mode of putting up tobacco for the market insures to the consumer a measured quantity of tobacco, since boxes of standard size filled therewith must always contain the same quantity.

Having now described my invention, and set forth the merits it possesses, what I claim is--- A filler or plug of unwrapped tobacco incased in a metallic box, as a new article of manufacture.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

THEODORE E. ALLEN.

WVitnesses:

H. T. MUNsoN, Gino. H. GRAHAM. 

